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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: SACRAMENTO

March 16, 2017

Sacramento, California

THE MODERATOR: We have our student-athletes from Creighton University which is to be found in Omaha, Nebraska, Marcus Foster, Khyri Thomas and Cole Huff. Gentlemen, talk about your season as a whole and coming out here to Sacramento.

COLE HUFF: Obviously, we got off to a really good start. I think we got as far as No. 7 in the nation before a few things didn't go our way, with injuries and a couple of close losses. From then our season has been kind of up and down, but unlike last year I think we finished the regular season on a positive note. We went into the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden and we came up a little short, but I think we're riding a little momentum right now and we're looking forward to continuing our success in the tournament.

KHYRI THOMAS: I would have to say Cole hit it on the head. We were ranked No. 7. Then we lost Maurice to the ACL injury which kind of made everybody sit back, and, you know, kind of really just embrace -- made everybody else get better and then after that we came to a couple of close losses and then after that we went on a run in the tournament and lost to Villanova.

But we got a nice little seed in the tournament and we're just ready to play, and the guys are just kind of amped up right now.

MARCUS FOSTER: Yeah, we got off to a really great start. People were talking about we were a great Final Four contender, and when Maurice went down, he was our vocal leader. He played hard on defense and got teammates going, so it was kind of hard for us when we lost him. We had to reinvent ourselves which made us start playing up and down. We couldn't really get a rhythm, but last week in New York in the Big East Tournament, we figured out who we were and pulled all the pieces together. Even though we didn't finish that strong in the Championship game I think we learned a lot about ourselves that could carry us through this tournament.

Q. Marcus, can you just kind of summarize the journey you've taken from your time at Kansas State to Creighton and how you've grown and changed over the past two years?
MARCUS FOSTER: I had to face adversity with the circumstances that I had at Kansas State and having to transfer to another school, you know. Taking a year off is something I've never done in my whole career, so I had to reinvent myself and I had to mature, you know, become a better teammate, better person on and off the court for my teammates. With that time off, the year that I had, it made me become a better person.

Q. Marcus, good to see you again. Now that you've had time to transfer and reflect on things, when you think back to that last season at Kansas State when it started off and you said that team had Final Four talent and then you end up winning 15 games. What went wrong that year now that you think back to it?
MARCUS FOSTER: I think that team we just wasn't in it for each other. I think we all had our individual mindsets of what we wanted to do and what we wanted to accomplish. The talent was definitely there on that team. I just didn't think we brought it together as a team standpoint.

Q. Cole, how soon did you realize how good Patton was going to be? He had a meteoric rise when he got to Creighton. When was it like watching him on the floor?
COLE HUFF: It was hard to tell during preseason because we had a lot of injuries. I wasn't always out there. Zach Hanson was recovering from injuries. Toby was dealing with his ankle. Martin was recovering from ACL injury. So he was the only big man for a long time and he was really dominant. We had smaller guys on him and whatnot.

Just going back to last year, his red-shirt season how hard he worked and for the skill set that he has as such a tall guy, being seven foot, it was obvious to see the sky is the limit for him. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't surprised when the season started just how quickly he put it together. Since we got the ball rolling I think he has kept building his confidence and he's playing great basketball. The sky is the limit for him.

Q. Marcus, when you look at this south region, how tough is it? Seems like every team 1-16 has some sort of a threat and could easily find themselves in the Final Four.
MARCUS FOSTER: There is definitely a lot of competition out there, but it's the NCAA Tournament. This is the time of year when everybody is going to be playing their best basketball. Everybody in the tournament is going to be a great team, no matter what region you're in. So you got to be prepared and be ready to play every night.

Q. Marcus, what's been your favorite thing about playing at Creighton this year?
MARCUS FOSTER: I would say the team atmosphere, the family atmosphere that we have on this team. Guys really love each other and you see it on the court. We're playing hard not just for ourselves but for our teammates and our coaching staffs. When you have a fan base like us you love to play on the court and make our fans proud when they see how good we're playing.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? Okay. Thank you, gentlemen.

Okay, we have the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays, Greg McDermott. Coach, you have literally traipsed east to west and now being out here.

GREG McDERMOTT: Obviously, we're excited to be back the in the tournament after a couple of years of not making it and feel pretty good coming off the Big East Tournament where we were able to beat a couple of teams in Providence and Xavier who are both in the tournament before losing to Villanova in the final.

So really proud of this team and how they've come together in some tough circumstances and continue to play better basketball as the season has worn on. Obviously, we've got a great opponent in Rhode Island. So we will have our hands full tomorrow afternoon, but we're excited for the opportunity.

Q. When you look back on that Big East Tournament, that's arguably one of the toughest in college basketball and you did as you mentioned get through a couple of rounds. How does that caliber of competition prepare any team for the NCAA Tournament?
GREG McDERMOTT: I think playing the quality of schedule that we've played really all season long, when you're playing in a league where seven of your ten teams are in the NCAA Tournament, there aren't a lot of nights off. So you have to prepare yourself to play every game and certainly in the Big East Tournament that's the case as well.

The environment at Madison Square Garden was incredible. Sold-out Championship game on a Saturday night in New York City at the Garden is as good as it gets. The enthusiasm, the build-up, the excitement for that is a good prep for how you have to prepare yourself for a NCAA Tournament game because it's much the same. You have to keep your emotions in check. You have to make sure those emotions are used to your advantage and the enthusiasm doesn't become a disadvantage.

So I think our guys have a handle on that. It's also taxing to play three games in three days against the competition we played. After a couple days off we've had some good preparation for Rhode Island and hopefully we're up for that challenge tomorrow.

Q. Looking at Rhode Island's tapes, what stands out them the most to you and what will be the toughest thing for you in that game?
GREG McDERMOTT: I think they're one of the better defensive teams we've seen all year, and their numbers certainly support that. 40% defensive field goal percentage, 29% is all they're allowing from the three-point line. Not only is their three-point field goal percentage good the number of three-point shots that you can find against them is rather low as well.

So they do a good job of running you off the three-point line and challenging you when you're there, but E.C. Matthews is as good as we've seen all year. Terrell is terrific and Hassan Martin is always someone that I've been impressed with going back to high school. He's physical. He's long, great timing as a shot blocker. He's a force defensively.

They've only lost two games since the last week in January, so they're playing well at the right time and were a team that really was banged up with injuries throughout the first two-thirds of the season and as they've gotten healthy have found their stride.

THE MODERATOR: Any questions out there? Okay, Coach. Good luck tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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